Mrs. Weasley's reply came within the next couple of days.
The Sooner the Better.
So, Barnaby, Sarah, Diego, and Tulip prepared to apparate to the Burrow. At first, Sarah thought it'd be better if only she and Diego went, as they were the only ones with official connections to the order, but Barnaby had insisted on coming along, too. If nothing else, he really needed to get out of that cramped house. He'd been surprised how easily Sarah had been convinced.
Elena would be staying at the cottage. They figured it would be uncomfortable convincing the Order to trust a stranger, especially an Ex-Death Eater. Penny was also staying behind, as she wasn't sure how apparition would effect little Sophia, and Talbott was staying as well, though he was quite grumpy about it. He wanted to learn what was happening with the Order, but he didn't want to leave his family alone, especially with Elena, whom he still didn't trust completely.
It was late in the evening when they arrived about a mile away from the burrow. The sky was still orangey-peach near the ground, but a dark black-blue directly above them, the brightest stars twinkling down. Barnaby looked up at the stars as Sarah led the way up the hill to the Weasley's house. He'd never been much good at astronomy--the patterns and symbols that others could read and interpret just looked like pretty lights to him--but, he'd spent enough cozy courtyard nights with Sarah to recognize the most famous ones. Oddly enough, he couldn't find the dog constellation, which contained the brightest star in the sky. One of the few smoky gray clouds must have covered it up.
When they arrived at the crooked house, Mrs. Weasley asked Sarah "What did I give you for Christmas when you visited?" before letting them in.
"A snow globe," answered Sarah. Barnaby had no idea what that meant. "I've still got it on my shelf at home."
Nodding, Mrs. Weasley let them inside to the kitchen. Mr. Weasley and Bill were sat at the kitchen table, large glasses in their hands, staring down at their drinks. Across from them sat two familiar faces. A man in tattered clothes, and--
"Tonks!" cried Tulip, rushing forward, pulling her friend from the table and grappling her into a tight hug.
"Wotcher, Tulip! it's been a minute, hasn't it?"
Barnaby barely recognized his old friend's voice; it held none of the brightness that he remembered. In fact, he barely recognized Tonks at all. As Sarah stepped forward to get a hug too, he noticed her characteristic bubble-gum pink hair was now thin, flat, and a mousy gray.
"What's the matter?" Diego asked as Sarah accepted another hug from Bill. "It's bad news that You-Know-Who's back, but you've all known about that for a year."
Sarah and Tulip joined the others at the table as Mrs. Weasley dabbed at her eyes with her apron and tottered off to fetch more drinks. Barnaby and Diego leaned against the wall, on either side of a mantle that contained a rather depressing clock. All the Weasley family members were on it, and all their heads were pointing up at the words, "Mortal Peril."
The man in the old clothes grunted and cleared his throat. When he spoke, it sounded as if it had been the first time he'd done so in several days. "Sirius is dead."
Sarah put a hand to her mouth. The tip of her nose went red, a signal that she was trying not to cry.
Barnaby had never met Sirius Black, but he'd followed his story with great interest. It had always been strange to him that such a high-ranking Death Eater had never been mentioned by his parents, and it wasn't until recently that he'd learned why. Black had been innocent, wrongfully accused. But in the end, word got out that he wasn't what everyone thought he was. His story had been a beacon of hope for Barnaby, unshakable proof that no matter what situation you came from, you could be good, you could be happy...
And now he was gone.
"Dead? How?" asked Diego, his voice chalky.
"Bellatrix Lestrange killed him," said the man. "It seemed she wanted him dead just as much as Harry."
"So, Harry Potter was really there, Lupin? At the ministry?" asked Sarah.
Mrs. Weasley returned, and she used her wand to float several glasses around the room to the newcomers. Barnaby grabbed his glass and took a large swig without bothering to check what was in it. He felt the fire whiskey burn his throat on his way down to his stomach, but he wasn't entirely able to enjoy the courage igniting within him, the numbness in his hands being singed away. He set his jaw, listening and thinking.
"His own cousin," Tonks was saying, her words slurring slightly as she accepted another glass. "And mine. What a happy family we are, eh?" She took another drink.
"Why were they there, Lupin?" Sarah asked the tattered man. "What were they doing at the Ministry."
Bit by bit, they were able to coax the story out of Lupin, or at least as much as he was comfortable telling unofficial members of the Order. He couldn't or wouldn't tell them why Harry Potter had been there, along with several other Hogwarts students.
Barnaby didn't hear all of it; he couldn't stop thinking about Sirius Black. Sarah had told her a bit about him. He'd been kind, jovial, adventurous. And he'd been killed by his own cousin. Why? Because he opposed the Death Eaters. He was an embarrassment to his family. Had Black been destined to die in the cold and dark? He'd escaped Azkaban, just to become the Dark Lord's latest victim. Was that the only choice for a pureblood? Join the family, become a Death Eater, or die?
Barnaby looked up, sensing a slight change in the room's mood. His friends were gathered around Bill with sad smiles; Diego was shaking his hand.
"Aren't you going to say anything, Barnaby?" Tulip asked.
"What?"
"I said there's a bit of good news you lot haven't heard, yet. I'm getting married," said Bill.
"Oh. Congratulations," said Barnaby.
Mrs. Weasley made a strange tutting noise.
Barnaby felt his throat tightening. He took another swig of fire whiskey. His eyes and nostrils burned.
"Anyway, you really shouldn't stay long," said Mr. Weasley. "But what have you been up to, lately?"
Barnaby tuned out of the conversation again, until the others drained their glasses and got up to leave. Lupin had promised to let Dumbledore know they were still eager to help the Order and were awaiting instructions. Mrs. Weasley gave them all suffocating hugs before letting them out the door.
"Stay safe," she told them.
They walked away from the cozy, little home in the opposite direction they'd come until they thought it was safe enough to disapparate.
When they were back at the cottage, Barnaby leaned quietly in the corner as the others filled Penny and Talbott in on what they' d learned. Elena, who'd been like a shadow to him ever since the night he'd crashed into her in the forest, came over to rest her head on his shoulder.
Penny rocked Sophia in her arms and listened to their story with blurry eyes. Talbott paced back and forth, interrupting every few seconds with questions.
"Well, there's some good news, isn't there?" asked Sarah, once everyone at the table had talked themselves hoarse. Her face was tear-streaked. "Dumbledore will be giving us new instructions any time now. We'll have a plan, someway to make ourselves useful."
"I'm leaving," said Barnaby. They all looked at him.
"What?" asked Sarah.
His own voice seemed surprised he'd spoken; it had cracked mid-word. He himself wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, but the fire-whiskey wanted him to speak and he obeyed.
"I'm leaving. I'm going to rescue Merula. You guys can come with me or not, I don't care."
He saw the same look flash across their eyes that did every time he brought up Merula. The exasperated look of people who were tired of explaining. He'd seen that expression hundreds of times before, though not usually from these people. The look that told him he was stupid.
"The Death Eaters will kill her," said Barnaby. "They're not afraid to kill their own kind, their own family. They'll either kill her or they'll make her like them. I'm going to get her before that happens, or--"
It was difficult for him to put his feelings into words; it always had been, especially for a group of people. How could they understand something he hardly understood himself? All he knew was that he and Merula were walking along the same path. They had been ever since they'd been born into pureblood families, Death Eater legacies.
However that path ended, they would walk along it together. Barnaby wouldn't let Merula become like his parents. Like Sirius Black, the Death Eaters would have to kill him first.
"Dumbledore will have orders for us soon," said Talbott slowly. "We should focus on that."
"You can do that," said Barnaby. "I'm not in the Order. Dumbledore wouldn't let me join. I don't have to take his orders. I'm going to save Merula, before it's too late."
"It's already too late," said Sarah. "I'd hoped it wasn't too late for Merula, too. When I asked her to help me save you. But, she betrayed us. She's with the Death Eaters now."
Barnaby shook his head. He just couldn't accept that. For his or Merula's sake. At once, he couldn't bear to be stared down by each of them, waiting as always, for him to nod and go along with whatever they said, because they knew better than him.
He walked over to the door.
"You can't just leave," Talbott called after him. "What, you think you're just gonna track her down and fight off the Death Eaters by yourself?"
"Anyone that wants to come with me, can," he said without turning around.
"I will come," said Elena at once. He felt her presence behind him as he took hold of the doorknob.
"Barnaby, wait!"
Sarah had lunged forward and grabbed his arm. Her nose was bright red again. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. Barnaby was taken back to last year, in Hogsmeade. Then, she'd been the one leaving, and he'd been the one with the desperate look in his eye.
"Don't leave," she whispered. "Please, don't."
"Why?" he asked.
He could tell she understood. He waited, but he knew he wouldn't get the answer he wanted to hear.
Her eyes glossed over for a second, like her mind had been wiped blank. He almost stepped forward to catch her, worried she was going to pass out.
But her eyes found his again, her lips forming the words, "I can't."
He nodded. Pulling his arm from Sarah's fingers, he grabbed Elena's hand instead, leading her outside into the the summer night.
They walked away from the cottage so they could disapparate. Barnaby listened intently, part of him hoping to hear footsteps or someone yelling after him, but the only sound was Elena's breathing as she tried to keep up with his fast pace.
"Ready?" he asked her, coming to a stop at the corner of the street.
She nodded. Barnaby held her arm tightly, and together they disapparted, leaving the cottage and his friends behind.